A Day in Gideon
by AfrendoFjors
Summary: My first fanfic.  A quick one-shot about an narcissistic imperial citizen traveling through the Gideon slums.


Caius Perronius made his way through the dark streets of Gideon, Black Marsh. He was already late for a meeting; otherwise, he wouldn't have taken this particular route. The whole trip, Caius felt like he was wading through a river of filth. Poverty and crime were all around him, the faces that he saw were of people he would never associate with, and normally would not even care to look at directly. Bugs flew in his face, He had to constantly wipe them off his face or swat them on some part of his body. He felt as if he had to guard his pouch constantly, for fear of a pickpocket, probably one of many here, deciding that poor Caius was a good target. He could feel his disgust for the people growing stronger every second, until it mounted to outright hatred.

He was running now, wanting to get out of the Gideon slums as fast as possible at any cost. It was not a secret to his co-workers that he was not fond of Argonians in the first place, let alone the poor, dirty ones, likely swimming – and thus breathing – in their own feces. These were people who had given up on their pathetic lives, lost all hope of anything. They were all losers who would far rather turn to a life of crime than try to earn an honest buck or two. They were grey, sullen drabs of depression; Caius did not detect a ray of happiness from any of them that did not come from the pain of others. Unfortunately for him, the slums of Black Marsh cities are usually the largest in the empire, easily large enough to tire Caius before he made it out. Too exhausted outrun his fears, Caius had no choice but to bear their presence. Caius could see the evil in their eyes, all of them, even when there was none. Working with the Imperial legion in Gideon, Caius had heard about all the horrible things that had happened to lawful Imperials such as himself wandering through slums such as these. It was constantly on his mind; was he about to become another victim of this, or would he witness someone else? No doubt, he thought as he wandered through the streets, _something_ bad was about to happen.

The thought crossed his mind every time he saw another Argonian face. He pictured each and every one savagely murdering the one next to them at any moment. It was moments like these when Caius regretted the decision to come to Black Marsh. He could have stayed in Cyrodiil, where every city (except maybe Bravil) was as clean as the grandest royal palace in Black Marsh. Oh, Caius couldn't wait until he finally got to his destination, a clean building where he could safely resume his daily life. He would have no fear of being attacked or robbed, and he could greet people with a smile without them glaring back. Unlike these people, he thought, as he scoured at the people around him. Despicable.

It was this thought that he carried in his mind when Caius rounded a corner and entered a back alley street free of all the hopeless beggars he had been encountering for so long. This was a relief; no one was going to ask for his money, and he wouldn't have to see any of their filthy faces. This street too, of course, was just as dirty as all the rest, but at least it didn't have the people to add to that. There weren't even any bugs! But then, where _were _they all? Perhaps they were all hiding, waiting for the right moment. Caius now saw this street as a death trap, a place where, at any point, a group of Argonian thugs could jump out of the darkness and mug him, or worse. Caius could hold his own in a fight, but not against a whole gang of Argonian savages.

The Imperial treaded with caution through the street. He did his best to silent his footsteps, continuously looking over his shoulder, prepared for a battle at any time. Caius jumped at shadows, and whisked out his sword at the slighted scuttle. He was sure, at any and every moment, that a group of thieves would attack him. Caius did not want to become another corpse lining the already disgusting and disease-ridden street.

Just then, an Argonian appeared in front of him. Caius nearly leapt straight out of his skin, frantically swinging his sword in every direction. This carried on for quite some time. After Caius realized that no one was attacking him, he stopped. He saw that the Argonian had been dropped and was now hanging execution-style above the street. Through all his sword swings, Caius had managed to cut the Argonian only once the foot. Caius stared in horror as he realized the lizard had probably been a victim of one of the many organized crime societies in this slum, and his corpse was now hanging limp above the wicked streets of Gideon. Caius gasped in terror, then took off as fast as he possibly could to avoid becoming the next victim.

…

The Argonian waited until the Imperial was gone. The cut on his foot still hurt, but it didn't matter. He cut the rope and burst into laughter.


End file.
